Hair Bleaching — the Hidden Horrors

The hotter the star, the brighter the blonde: Everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Jennifer Aniston has lightened her locks while transitioning from ingenue to Alister. But upgrading to platinum is risky. "You may think blonder equals younger and sexier, but once it gets beyond a certain point, no matter what you've spent, it looks cheap," warns Jason Backe, head colorist at Manhattan's Ted Gibson salon. And the blonder you go, the more damage you do. Overuse of bleach and peroxide eventually alters hair's texture, turning it dry as hay and limp as spaghetti.